The invention relates to a computer system, computer program and method for stock control. In particular, but without limitation thereto, the invention relates to stock control, in the home, of everyday household items.
The use of electronics and computing in the field of retail shopping, particularly food shopping, has become widespread in recent years. In addition to the scanning of product bar codes at electronic checkout stations, supermarket chains have introduced facilities for personal hand-held scanners for shoppers to scan articles as they pick them from the shelves and to store a record of the articles to be purchased. When the shopper reaches the checkout, the contents of the shopping trolley can be automatically read into the store""s computer system from the scanner, allowing immediate display of a description and price of each article purchased and, after payment, printing of a till (cash register) receipt. In this way, faster progress of customers through the checkouts is facilitated.
Supermarket chains have also made use of the Internet to allow customers with home computers and Internet connection to generate an electronic shopping list (or order) by selection from a displayed catalogue of the supermarket""s goods. This list can be sent electronically to the supermarket and the purchases assembled by the supermarket staff for collection or delivery to the customer""s home.
Examples of known electronic shopping technology include U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,614 (Bianco) entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Computer-Aided Shoppingxe2x80x9d. This patent describes how a shopping list can be generated manually by a customer with a home computer and bar code scanner from (a) preprinted lists, provided by the supermarket, which correlate bar codes and product descriptions, (b) bar codes on discarded items and (c) discount coupons containing bar codes. The list may then be printed, stored on a smart card or read out from the scanner""s memory when the customer visits the store.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,789 (Johnson) entitled xe2x80x9cShopping Cartxe2x80x9d employs a cart mounted shopping system including a scanner, a display and wireless communication with a store computer. A shopping list may be prepared by scanning bar codes from a catalogue or an old cash register tape (till receipt) which includes bar codes. The shopper is then guided around the store in the order in which items on the list are stocked and is advised of promotions as they reach them.
Published International patent application WO 98/18094 (Eldat Communication Limited) entitled xe2x80x9cPersonal Shopping Systemxe2x80x9d shows a system of great complexity involving in-store transmission of prices to electronic display labels and a hand-held personal shopper device with display and keypad. One aspect of this system is the maintenance and updating of a xe2x80x9ccustomer shopping profilexe2x80x9d in a memory of the hand-held device. A xe2x80x9cpurchase recordxe2x80x9d containing item names, quantities and numeric codes is built up during shopping and used to facilitate checkout and also as a basis for updating the contents of the profile memory. Before shopping, the customer uses the customer profile and other information, say about discounts, to create a shopping list which is then stored in the shopper device and which interacts with the store""s central computer to signal that the customer is near an item on the list by causing a light on a product price display to blink.
All the above are concerned with in-store technology. One patent which is concerned more with the domestic end is U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,684 (Murrah) entitled xe2x80x9cArticle Storage Container with Bar Code Scanningxe2x80x9d. This shows a container such as a refrigerator or pantry with dual in-built bar code scanners for sensing insertion or removal of products. The information can be used by an associated home computer system to generate printed inventories or shopping lists on request. The inventory is effectively the list of products placed in the container minus those removed.
None of the above prior art shows a rapid and convenient way of updating the inventory of products, enabling the rapid generation of a shopping list of items to be replaced.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a stock control computer system including a memory for storing a current stock list based on product codes; updating means responsive to input to said system of an electronic version of a receipt of purchases, including product codes, to add products purchased to said current stock list; deleting means responsive to an electronic indication of the codes of products disposed of to delete those products from the current stock list; comparing means for comparing the current stock list with a predetermined stock level; and indicating means responsive to such comparison for indicating which items of stock need replacing.
The updating means, deleting means, comparing means and indicating means may, according to the invention be provided by a computer progam recorded on a medium.
Viewed from another aspect, the invention also provides a method of stock control employing a computer system having a memory for storing a current stock list based on product codes, said method comprising the steps of: in response to input to said system of an electronic version of a receipt of purchases, adding products purchased to said current stock list; in response to an electronic indication of the codes of products disposed of, deleting products from the current stock list; comparing the current stock list with a predetermined level of stock; and in response to said comparison, indicating which items of stock need replacing.
The use of an electronic version of the purchase receipt by the computer system thus speeds up the updating of inventory in turn enabling a shopping list to be prepared automatically and rapidly without direct customer involvement in selection and manipulation of items. The invention finds particular application in the control of stocks of everyday household items in the home which are likely to be purchased repeatedly from a common supplier, such as a supermarket. However, it may also be implemented in office or small business environments where casual purchases, resulting in purchase receipts, are made to supplement stock.
Preferably, a correlation between product codes and descriptions is generated from electronic till receipts of purchases by the customer and is provided over a communications network by e-mail or by a web application, written onto a smart card or even stored directly in a small hand-held computing device carried by the customer. This correlation is preferably stored in the computer memory and may be used to indicate product descriptions of the items needing replacement, as well as their product codes.
Although it is more convenient to use a correlation list held in the user""s computer, and regularly updated, it would be possible instead to use a correlation list provided by the store over a network from the store""s own product database.
Depending on the intended use of the indication of items needing replacement, the invention can thus provide either a human readable shopping list of product descriptions for use in person or an electronic list of items which could be transmitted electronically to a remote computer at a product supplier.
It is preferred that the product codes used should be bar codes but any other coding system such as numerical coding could in theory be used. A bar code scanner in the home is the most convenient way of indicating electronically the codes of products being disposed of, either by consumption or by the discarding of out of date items.
If a hand-held device, like a palm-top computer were used, it could incorporate a bar code scanner.
Preferably, the list of products needing replacement would be generated by comparison of the updated inventory or stock list with a predetermined reference list of desired levels of stock. However, the comparison could simply determine whether products were in stock in the home or not, though this would not indicate how many were needed. In this case, the deleting means would not normally delete the product code, when stocks fell to zero but would maintain it in the stock list with an indication that the number held was zero.